News

As part of our ongoing support to our charity of choice, Pendleside Hospice, SER Limited were awarded the “Corporate Challenge” winners award for our efforts over the year raising valuable monies for the charity so that they can continue with the outstanding work they do helping end of life cancer sufferers in the East Lancashire region.

An award that really matters and really does make a difference.

We have been nominated for: Channel Consultancy of the Year

This award is for any type of business that offers consultancy services to channel companies. This could include: marketing agencies, PR agencies, corporate finance advisories, leasing companies, engineering specialists and training providers. Applicants need to detail activities in 2023 that demonstrate how your specialist services are helping channel companies to deliver on business objectives. This is open to any type of consultancy company that can demonstrate expertise in the channel market.

The awards night is Thursday 18th July.

Beth Hall is raising funds for our choosen chairty Pendleside Hospice. She will be doing a Skydive and is looking for sponosers. Every Penny helps.

The go fund me site is:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/beth-halls-skydive-in-aid-of-pendleside-hospice?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet-first-launch&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

Saturday 27th July 2024 - Date for your diary. 

Its SER's annual Family Fun Day and 7 aside football tournament. Starting at 11am and held at Pleasington Sports Fields Blackburn.

Interested in entering a team? Call Joe at our office 01254 781300 or email joe@serlimited.com

Supporting local hospice Charities Pendleside and East Lanc's. Very penny is coming to a great course.

An Asda worker has been awarded £30,000 at an employment tribunal after being kicked in the rear and “humiliated” by a female colleague.

Choon Seng Goh, the supermarket employee, will receive the five-figure sum after a judge had previously ruled Asda had discriminated against the worker on the grounds of his gender, as the supermarket hadn’t taken his bullying claims seriously.

At a tribunal held in summer 2023, Goh stated that a man would have been “sacked on the spot” if they experienced the same thing as him, having been kicked and kneed twice by a female colleague.

The tribunal revealed that the perpetrator Mercy Asante kicked him in the rear, but Goh hadn’t reported the incident, believing it wouldn’t happen again.

However, just week later Asante did kick Goh in the backside again, so much that he “jolted forward” and needed to visit his doctor. After this, Goh made a complaint to his manager but “nothing was done” for several months, making him feel like his complaint wasn’t being taken seriously and the whole situation would have been dealt with faster “had he not been male”.

Despite Asante claiming the two had a “playful” relationship and that Asante had mentioned she was going to "Kung Fu him". Nevertheless, Goh persisted that his treatment wasn’t a result of “banter” and instead was harassment. Asda rejected this appeal which urged Goh to take the supermarket to court.

The employment judge on the case stated: “This was not simply an unjustified sense of grievance, Mr Goh was entitled to feel that his welfare and safety were not being accorded any significance by his employer."

“Ruling the grievance had been 'mismanaged', he added: "There was no proper attempt to grapple with the core part of his complaint, namely, that had he been a woman his complaints would have been dealt with differently.

"We conclude that the appeal hearing and its outcome was mismanaged. The focus was not on addressing his complaints... the outcome was significantly flawed in that it did not address a crucial element of the complaint."

The tribunal awarded Goh £29,465 compensation, including £18,500 for injury to feelings.

'Banter' in the workplace and what HR can do about it.

“It is often the case that what one person finds funny another might find offensive. However, to try and stay on the right side of the line, people should be mindful to keep jokes to those they are comfortable repeating and explaining if questioned about them, and avoid those which cross into offensive territory, especially those which relate to protected characteristics.”

The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023, will give workers the right to request a more predictable working pattern.

When this new law comes into force all workers, including those on zero hours contracts and agency workers, will have the right to request a predictable working pattern if their existing working pattern lacks certainty in respect of the hours or times worked.

They could ask for a minimum number of guaranteed hours, for example, or clarity over which days of the week they will be asked to work.

It will also apply to those on fixed term contracts that last less than 12 months who will be allowed to ask for a longer fixed term or to go permanent.

Before a request can be made, 26 weeks’ service is likely to be needed.

Once a worker has made such a request, their employer will be required to notify them of its decision within one month.

Employers will be able to refuse a request but only on one of 6 prescribed grounds such as detrimental impact on ability to meet customer demand. Acas will produce a new Code of Practice to provide guidance on making and handling requests. It is expected that this new right will come into force in approximately a year.

This years PENDLE SIDE CORPORATE CHALLENGE!

We have set the goal a little higher this year – hoping to achieve 874 miles.
This is the length of the country. Lands End to John O'Groats!

Everyone here at SER will be joining in with the group challenge -           cycling NON-STOP for 48hrs

The challenge starts tomorrow @ 12:00 – Finishing Friday @ 12:00

We're hoping to raise as much as possible for Pendle Side Hospice. An extremely worthy charity, that is close to a lot of our hearts!

Pendleside exists to promote and enhance quality of life for people with life-limiting illnesses, their families and carers; by delivering specialist and holistic palliative care, which addresses their individually assessed physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.

LIVE STEAM LINK (live from 11:45am tomorrow): https://m.twitch.tv/serlimited5qr

HOW TO SPONSOR: https://www.justgiving.com/page/serltd2023pendlesidehospice

Modern Slavery Act Statement – SER (Staffing) Limited

SER (Staffing) Limited is a professional services company providing recruitment services across the UK. Mainly focusing on permanent recruitment placements, SER (Staffing) Limited accepts the importance of the Modern Slavery Act and as such will continue to ensure that as a recruitment services provider they act in a professional, law upholding manner at all times.

Services

The services that SER (Staffing) Limited provides to its clients are predominantly office or site-based when referring to the supply of fixed term contractors or temporary staff members and supplied under the operating terms provided by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. SER (Staffing) Limited considers these to be very low risk in relation to slavery and human trafficking so takes no specific action in relation to these relationships.

Given that SER (Staffing) Limited understands their actions to be a low risk regarding slavery and/or human trafficking, we believe our current procedures and ability to reply on regulatory oversight in relation to professional services are sufficient in the regard. Given this low risk profile, no specific training is provided or undertaken by our staff in relation to these matters.

In relation to temporary site workers, SER Limited transfers the responsibility of the candidate’s welfare to the Client as per the terms of business issued by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

Goods

In terms of goods and services supplied to SER (Staffing) Limited, the majority of goods will be goods for use in the office environment or advertising products and services. It is the view of the Director of SER (Staffing) Limited that these goods and services supplied are of very low risk, so no further training is provided.

After recent controversies employee surveillance is under the microscope

The benefits of hybrid and remote working have been thoroughly discussed and publicised – whether it's improving your employee's wellbeing with a better work-life balance, fewer commuting expenses and those overpriced lunch breaks or doing away with geographical restrictions to hire from a wider talent pool.

But of course, some drawbacks just won't go away – one of which being the quandary of how to make sure your remote workers are actually working!
The most obvious and simple solution is to trust them. If their daily duties are ticked off by clocking off time, does it really matter whether they are glued to their screens every minute of the day?

For some it does! And this has led to a rise in worker surveillance. There are significant ethical issues when it comes to monitoring an employee's productivity via tracking software, yet around one in five companies has admitted either installing tech to snoop on staff or planning to....The software can check attendance at meetings, log how long workers take to read and reply to messages & even secretly film them.
Several firms have come under fire, amid allegations of monitoring remote workers' activities.

Earlier this year, a worker was ordered to pay back the equivalent of £1500 in wages to her ex-employer, after tracking software deemed, she had "misrepresented" hours of work.

In another incident, August 2023, insurer IAG terminated an employee with an impressive 18-year career (in which time the employee was known as a good worker) because after introducing keystroke monitoring technology, the firm noted periods of zero keystrokes on her device when working remotely.
Naturally, many feel this type of monitoring is intrusive and shows a lack of trust, and some big names have received backlash to their worker surveillance.

What is the law on monitoring staff?
Karen Holden, CEO of A City Law Firm "Monitoring employees working remotely or at the office is not illegal if it complies with regulations including the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Employment Practices Data Protection Code 2011," Holden previously told HR Grapevine.

"An employer ideally should have carried out an impact assessment so it can show there is a legitimate interest behind the mechanisms and how the data is to be stored and used. This is also helpful for the employer to understand and balance trust, and motivation against any loss of staff confidence.
"The employees should provide their consent and have knowledge of what the employer is doing if an employer is to avoid potential grievances and claims. As such a dedicated policy should be circulated to inform staff of what is being done and why to avoid surprises and confusion (unless this has already been set out in their employment contracts)."

Holden continued: "All staff should be treated equally to avoid claims of discrimination and caution should be exercised not to infringe a person's privacy by being too invasive. Given recent times an employer should be sensitive to staff well-being, health and the hours staff are working.
"This is actually common practice in large London businesses. Specifically for keystroke capture, employers will need to obtain written agreement for this type of monitoring in some cases."

Why does it matter?
If done properly, employee tracking is totally legal, but implementing such software risks breaking employer-employee trust, and many people have spoken out against the rise in these measures.

Will workers accept more surveillance if it allows more flexibility?
If new research is to be believed, working in a Big Brother environment is a trade-off many are willing to accept in exchange for one of the most sought-after work perks.
GetApp UK- a UK-based B2B software comparison site surveyed over 1,000 SME employees to better understand their perspective on flexible working schedules. They found that 71% of staff would agree to more surveillance at work to be granted a flexible working schedule.

This correlates with GetApp's previous study, which found that a high proportion of employees that have changed jobs in the last 2years, moved to find a new role which permit a flexible working schedule.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT - RECRUITER - CARA

@ SER since January 2023 - Machine Tooling

Tell us about a professional success story that you're proud of.

Recently placed a candidate in an opportunity he described as "life changing" as it enabled him to progress within his career to service manager, join a growing and innovative company not to mention add an extra £10,000 plus to his salary to spoil his family. It's not about winning a quick fee but building relationships placing candidates in long term careers that suit their goals!

Most important skill a successful professional need to have in recruitment?

Actively listening to your candidates. So many recruiters give the industry a bad name by sending candidates here there and everywhere instead of taking the time to listen and understand what their pain is and what they want from their career.

What would your perfect weekend look like?

My perfect weekend would be spent eating out or baking (I'm a massive foodie) and spending quality time with my loved ones and little cockapoo. Or having found cheap flights on skyscanner for a spontaneous weekend away.

What's something surprising that few people know about you?

Despite falling off my chair and over my own feet daily, I used to be a dancer and even won a cheerleading national championship.

What are some of your favourite local spots to visit?

Definitely Amico Mio Whalley! A hidden gem in the Ribble valley that won best new business 2021 under the new owners. Although, I am biased as I have worked there since my early teens...

Why did you choose to pursue a career in your field?

Although most people tend to say they fall into recruitment I knew since Uni this was what I wanted to do. I wanted something that would combine my money motivation with helping people , but whilst also keeping me on my toes so I don't get bored. Recruitment certainly keeps me on my toes.

What do you think makes you unique as a team member?

My ability to fall over everything in site and humorous contributions to the SER "sports day", but also ability to switch from laughing with the team straight into business mode when on the phone.

What are some challenges you have faced since joining the team?

I have a borderline photographic memory, so all my candidate conversations are in my head, but making sure I am keeping my notes up to date on the computer and not one of my MANY notebooks has been a challenge but we're getting there! Organisation is key in recruitment.

What are your favourite travel memories?

The best trip I have been on is my most recent trip to Elounda in Crete! The commission at SER has helped me treat my boyfriend to not one but 2 holidays away so far and I can't wait to go back in September. That or my solo travels around Italy and getting lost in Verona...

Favourite memory from working at the company?

Must be Jimmys weekend stories in the Monday sales meetings or the SER "sports day" and open bar at the guzzling pig!

Do you have any strategies for dealing with stress at work?

If recruitment was easy everyone would be successful, so every now and then you get a stressful phone call. Taking 5 minutes out of the situation to grab a diet coke and have a joke with a colleague before throwing yourself into a different task works well for me. Control the controllables, be accountable and laugh off the rest.

How do you prefer to collaborate with team members?

In the SER office there is a wealth of knowledge to draw from, learning from top billers who have been in the game 5 – 10+ years from their techniques makes a world of difference.

What do you think our future looks like as a team?

SER seems to be growing and growing ; always lots of new faces in the office so I can see us going from strength to strength.

Have you any personal or professional goals for yourself?

Hoping to become the go to recruiter in the machine tool industry for your next career steps and put a deposit down for my first house which I will fill with many, many dogs...

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

I lived and went to school in Oz for a year and I have always wanted to go back to visit, Rio, Thailand and Vietnam are also big ones on the list!